


This is Not a Rom-Com Movie (But it sure feels like one)

by pastles



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: And soon not to Daichi too, At least not to Kuroo, But not really fake, Fake Dating, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-14 15:41:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13593222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastles/pseuds/pastles
Summary: Kuroo has a crush on someone, but he's a bit too nervous to ask the other person out. So he's asked if Daichi would help by going on "practice dates" with him. Daichi was a little reluctant at first, but he decided that he could help a friend out. Because, to quote his friend, "He was always so kind."But soon, Daichi's wondering if helping Kuroo out is such a good idea. At first, it's kind of funny to see how awkward the other boy is at dates, but after a while, Daichi realises that he's becoming more unhappy with helping Kuroo with the dates. He starts feeling that he really didn't want Kuroo to go out with this mysterious person. But how can Daichi step in now?





	1. Because I am always so kind.

**Author's Note:**

> Daichi being completely clueless and Kuroo suffering because of that cluelessness is a favourite trope of mine. <3

"You gotta help me Sawamura."

Daichi paused in his packing of the living room, and tossed last month's issue of Volleyball Weekly ("Holy fuck, Sa-amura, come see this! Bokuto's on the front page!") back onto the table. They were supposed to be doing their weekly cleaning of the living room, but Kuroo had suddenly groaned and flopped onto his back on the floor. With his hands on his lower back, Daichi stretched, reliving the ache. He had a feeling that Kuroo was up to something; his phone had been buzzing the whole morning.

Making himself comfortable on their beanbag, Daichi nudged Kuroo's foot. "What do you need?"

Suddenly flipping to his front, Kuroo turned and shuffled on his hands and knees towards Daichi. He leaned his sharp chin on Daichi's thigh and sighed deeply. "You are a lifesaver."

Daichi ignored the urge to jiggle his thigh, _just a little bit_ , and lightly rapped a knuckle on Kuroo's head. "I'm not agreeing to anything until you tell me what is it that you want me to do."

Kuroo winced at the hit, "Well, you see… I've got this crush on someone…"

Daichi's eyebrows rose high, Kuroo had a crush on someone? Wow, that was really unexpected. In the 3 years that they had been going to college together, 2 of which was spent living together, Daichi didn't think he'd seen Kuroo express interest in anyone before. Daichi wondered who was the person who had captured Kuroo's attention. 

Daichi rubbed at a sudden ache in his chest, he must have pulled a muscle earlier. "Oh ho ho? When did the great Kuroo Tetsurou fall?"

"Shut up," Kuroo pouted and Daichi grinned. Kuroo was still the "provocation expert" he'd said he was when they first met, but after living with him, Daichi had also found out that Kuroo was a huge nerd and really sweet to his friends. And girls obviously found him very charming, there was always one saying hi to him when Kuroo was walking with Daichi to his lectures. Which was odd, seeing as how Kuroo was pre-Law while Daichi was architecture; the faculties were on opposite ends of campus, and there was no shared facilities between the 2 departments. How did the girls in his faculty even know Kuroo?

"Anyway," Kuroo finally continued, but not before lying face down on Daichi's thigh. "I'm a little nervous at asking them out. And I'm not really sure that what I want to do will actually work…"

Daichi had a bad feeling as to what Kuroo was about to ask.

"So, I was wondering if you'd want to go on some practice dates with me?"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Daichi pushed Kuroo's head off his thigh. "Why me? It's not like I can give you any advice."

It was true. Daichi had been on exactly 5 dates ever since he started college and they were all first dates with different people. He just didn't seem to be able to click with them. There was a girl who liked volleyball, it was the reason their friends had arranged for a date for them; Daichi had thought they were doing very well; they talked a lot about volleyball and their favourite types of movies (She liked action movies, Daichi liked horror films and they both hated slasher movies). She had a sly sense of humour and seemed to enjoy saying things to rile Daichi up, but Daichi didn't mind. In fact, it had been one of the things he liked about her. But he'd received a message from her the next day saying that she had fun but it might be better if they stayed as friends. It was the same for the following 4 dates. 

Daichi wasn't too bothered by that. He was too busy with schoolwork and volleyball to invest time and energy into a new relationship.

"Why don't you get one of your other friends to do it?"

Kuroo groaned, "Oh come on, and lose all their respect?"

"What respect?" Daichi grinned at the glare Kuroo threw him from under that unruly fringe.

"Come on, Sa~amura, I know you have a soft spot for me under that hard exterior of yours." 

Daichi snorted at the fake ass compliment. "You wish."

"And I know you're very kind person." Kuroo nudged at Daichi's leg with the top of his head. "Come on, Sawamura. Help a friend out."

A sigh, Daichi could never say no to Kuroo. "Fine. I'll help you, because I am always this kind."

"That you are, Sawamura. That you are."

Daichi hoped he won't end up regretting this decision.


	2. Ramen Dates: Oh, don't be so salty, you like them anyway

Daichi wasn't sure when they would start on their practice dates, he'd left it to Kuroo to do all the planning. Well, it was what he was supposed to do anyway, and Kuroo knew his schedule almost as well as Daichi did himself. So he wasn't too surprised to find a note stuck on his door the one night he didn't have work scheduled or had any extra seminars to attend.

_Operation ~~Mouse Trap~~ "Kuroo Tetsurou: Great Cat-ch" starts.  
Sawamura, dress up~ I'm taking you out on our first date. Wear your best jeans. They make your butt look good._

Head bent, one hand covering his eyes, Daichi couldn't help smiling as he shook his head. Kuroo was such a dork. Daichi tore off the post-it note on his door. He needed to find his best jeans.

"So I decided to change the name of this operation when I realised how creepy it sounded." Kuroo said by way of greeting when Daichi met him at the cafe near their place.

"Are you sure this is a good place for a date?" Daichi could appreciate the once over that Kuroo gave him, but gave him a light kick on the shin when the other boy gave a soft whistle. "Also, I don't think you should be like this on the first date. Not if you want to impress your date."

"Aww, Sawamura, don't you think I should show my appreciation of how good my date looks?" Kuroo pushed over the door and with a sweep of his arm, indicated for Daichi to go in first. "In any case, this place is _perfect_ for a first date. It's casual, and friendly. I don't want to come on too strong at first."

Daichi couldn't fault that logic. "Well, okay. If you say so. You look very nice today, by the way."

And it was true, Kuroo _did_ look very nice. His hair was still as messy as ever, but in exchange, he also had on proper jeans and a shirt that Daichi was sure was new. He'd never seen it on their laundry line before and Kuroo tended to live in t-shirts and shorts, much like Daichi. The jeans hugged Kuroo's long legs, and the shirt was nicely fitted and showed off his lanky frame quite nicely. 

"Well, thank you~" Kuroo's grin was all kinds of smug, but Daichi just ignored it. He'd gotten quite used to Kuroo's smirks.

They placed their orders and Kuroo insisted on paying. 

"We really should do this more often." Kuroo, an elbow on the table, head resting on his hand, reached out with his free hand to snitch a bit of the crust off Daichi's quiche. "It's nice to just be out here and hang out, instead of doing it at home."

Daichi snorted and just handed his fork over.

"Here, stop picking at the food."

Kuroo looked at the fork and then back up at Daichi's face, before a smirk slowly grew on his face. "Feed me."

"What? No. Feed yourself."

"Come on, Sawamura~ We're supposed to be on a date here."

"A first date, let me remind you." Daichi waved his fork in front of Kuroo. "Do you want it or not?"

"Fine, hand over that fork." Kuroo's pout was cute as Daichi moved the fork away at the last moment. "You are such a child, Sawamura."

"Oh, _I'm_ the child now? Please remind me who is the one with the collection of toys in their bedroom?"

Kuroo gasp was loud and he looked so betrayed that Daichi couldn't help but laugh. "Toys? _Toys_? Those are not toys! They're collectible figurines!"

"Fine, fine." Daichi leaned across the table to cover Kuroo's mouth as the other boy got louder. "I'm sorry I called them toys."

Kuroo pushed Daichi's hand away, and sniffed once at him. "Fine, you're forgiven."

"In any case, are you sure this is how your date should be? Shouldn't you be trying your best to wow me?" Daichi took a sip of his mocha.

"Are you saying you're not wowed yet?"

"I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be wowed by."

"You hurt me, Sawamura. You hurt me. Keep this up and there won't be a second date."

Daichi kicked Kuroo under the table, enjoying the yelp it incited. "We really should make things clear. What exactly do you want me to do?"

"Well, you like coffee, right? They like coffee too. So I just wanted to see if this would be a nice place to have a first date, and how nice the coffee was."

Daichi opened his mouth to remind Kuroo that this was a cafe that was literally only 10 minutes from their flat on the way to school. They were in here almost every other day… but, Daichi suddenly realised that they would usually buy their drinks to go and that Kuroo generally had tea instead of coffee.

"Well, the coffee here is passable, their quiche is actually not bad."

"Plus 1 on the quiche."

"I'm just not too sure about the date atmosphere."

"Hmm," A contemplative expression crossed Kuroo's face as he tapped a finger on his chin. "I think that's because we're both too comfortable with each other."

Wanting to encourage Kuroo, Daichi smiled, "But I think it's not a bad place to have a first date. No pressure on either party, and the place is quiet enough to have a proper conversation."

"True." Kuroo took a bite of the quiche and it was then that Daichi realised more than two-thirds had been eaten by Kuroo.

"You're buying me another quiche."

Kuroo did end up buying another quiche for Daichi.

++++++++++

"Sawamura! You're free tomorrow evening right?" Kuroo called out from the other side of Daichi's closed room door.

Getting up from his hunched position over his textbook, Daichi groaned as he stretched.

"Are you watching something inside?" Kuroo was using his Irritant Voice, the one that he _knew_ Daichi really hated. "I'm sorry for disturbing your Mini Me Time, Sawamura. Should I come back later?"

"I was studying." Daichi glared at Kuroo the moment the opened door revealed his face. 

"Oh, is that what they're calling it now?" Kuroo's grin was huge. "I guess I should study more then."

"Given your foundation statistics class grades, I think you really should."

"Oy, rude. It's not my fault that those numbers don't make any sense, ok?"

"Un hmm, sure." Daichi crossed his arm. He thought he saw Kuroo's gaze flick to them for an instance, but dismissed it when Kuroo imitated his stance and leaned against his door frame, coming pretty close to Daichi.

Daichi refused to step back.

"Anyway, back to my question. You're free tomorrow, right? I think it's time for part two of my Great Cat-ch plan."

"That is such a stupid name." Daichi sighed.

"It's a GREAT name." Kuroo scrowled.

"Yes, yes. It's a great name." Daichi patted Kuroo on the arm. "Yeah, I'm free tomorrow. What are we doing?"

"Just be ready to leave by around 730pm, okay?"

The next day, Daichi was browsing through a magazine when the front door opened and he heard Kuroo's rushed steps.

"Sorry, I'm late. Give me 10 minutes!"

Kuroo rushed into his room even before Daichi had the chance to tell him to not rush. True to his word, Kuroo was out of his room in 10 minutes, face flushed as sweat gathered on his forehead, panting. He'd dropped his school bag and Daichi noticed that he had also changed his shirt. His hair was messier than usual, a sure sign that Kuroo had tried to tame it a bit. Daichi looked around, and threw the t-shirt that was hanging off the sofa at Kuroo, who caught it and used it to wipe the sweat away.

"You ready, Sawamura?"

"Yep," Daichi patted his pockets to make sure that he had his wallet and keys and put on his jacket. "Let's go."

++++++++++

"So, I was thinking, since it's our 2nd date, we should do it at a more formal place."

"And this is your idea of a more formal place?" Daichi looked up at the sign, then he looked back at Kuroo who actually had an extremely proud look on his face.

"What? I thought you liked ramen, Sawamura." Kuroo lifted away one of the noren and motioned for Daichi to enter the shop first.

"You think this is a good place for a date?" Daichi slid into seat the bar. "A ramen shop?"

"Why not? You like ramen, they like ramen too." And even though they had been to this particular shop numerous times, Kuroo was looking at the menu like he'd never seen it before.

"I guess." Daichi was not going to say no to ramen. "But you can't stay and talk for too long here, right?"

"Ah hah, that's the beauty of my plan." Kuroo motioned to the staff and they placed their orders before he continued his explanation. "If we hit it off, we can move for desserts or coffee after this. If not, it would be relatively fast and painless, and we can go our separate ways after the meal."

Daichi thought about it, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. "You know, wow, you actually made sense."

"Why do you like being so rude to me, Sawamura?" Kuroo's shoulders slumped and his lips curled downwards.

"It's how I show my love." Daichi didn't notice the flush growing on Kuroo's face, he was too distracted by his ramen.

Kuroo stared at Daichi for a few seconds before he shook his head and started eating his ramen.

++++++++++

"You actually do like having dates at ramen places, right? Wow, Sawamura, you're a cheap date."

"Shut up. Ramen is extremely delicious."

There were a few things that would put Daichi in a good mood; having a stomach filled with good ramen was one of those things. He was feeling extremely mellow and a little stuffed. Not only did they both refilled their ramen, they had ordered extra gyoza. Dinner had been fast and short, and Kuroo had suggested they walked around for a bit before deciding whether to go for dessert or not.

The weather was cool enough that a walk would feel nice. Daichi stuck his hand in his jacket pockets, contentment filling him as Kuroo started humming tunelessly next to him.

"I know what's your favourite restaurant, but you should expand your experiences once in a while."

"I do eat other stuff!" Daichi huffed. "I just like ramen a lot. Besides, I took my dates out to fancier places than a ramen store. I'm not as cheap as you."

"Hey!" Kuroo started to protest, but a wind blew at that moment. "Shit, wasn't it just really hot the other day?"

Daichi noticed that Kuroo was rubbing at his arms. "You doing okay?"

He had his jacket off and had tossed it to the other boy without waiting for an answer. "Here, wear this."

"Oh wow," Kuroo put on the jacket and zipped it up. "This jacket is so…"

Daichi turned to look at Kuroo, who was grinning and tugging at the bottom of the jacket. "This jacket is so short, Sawamura."

"Give it back, you damn cat!"

"Only if you can catch me! Crow's Papa!"

"Argh, Kuroo!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: That last bit was Kuroo making a really bad pun. "KarasuNo Papa" was what he said. "no/の" in Japanese usually denotes a possessive. So… Daichi's boyfriend would be "Daichi no kareshi/boyfriend ~~Kuroo Tetsurou~~ " etc
> 
> Also, don't worry. The awkwardness is going to come soon... Soon


	3. Every good plan needs a debrief (No, Bokuto, that doesn't mean we're taking off our briefs)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroo's such a goner

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, I realised that I've not written anything from Kuroo's POV before. Ah haha
> 
> Also, the one that Kuroo has a crush on is Daichi. Just in case that wasn't obvious enough yet.

Tetsurou flopped onto his unmade bed and groaned softly. He really didn't know how long he was going to be able to take this. Sawamura was walking around with only a towel wrapped around his waist. His roommate was one of those people who did not dry off completely after their baths. As far as Tetsurou was concerned, a wet and naked except for a towel Sawamura was not fair to his life.

He wouldn't exchange it for anything.

But he had to escape before he did something stupid, like continue staring creepily at his friend or blurt out the feelings he'd been squashing for the 2 years. It was getting a little hard to not just tell Sawamura that he had _feelings_ for him, and rather strong ones at that. Unfortunately or luckily (depends on your point of view and how Tetsurou was feeling at the time) for Tetsurou, he had discovered that Sawamura was also quite touchy with friends; pats on the back, tugging of arms, ruffling of Tetsurou's hair whenever he walked by the sofa while Tetsurou was sitting there, letting Tetsurou drape himself over him (something that Tetsurou took advantage of all the time), leaning against him and falling asleep on Tetsurou during movie nights…

Tetsurou was in heaven and hell at the same time. Sawamura was just _so warm_ and Tetsurou got so cold really easily; so sometimes it was unconscious on his part, gravitating towards Sawamura in their cold room, and the other boy never really pushed him away. Some of Tetsurou's favourite times were when it was only the 2 of them in the room, and the lights were dimmed while a movie was playing on their 2nd hand TV that Tetsurou managed to talk Sawamura into buying. They would be sitting together on the sofa, sharing a blanket but not really touching, and Tetsurou would grow nice and warm under the blanket from Sawamura's heat. Sometimes, Sawamura would actually snuggle in closer and Tetsurou would give thanks to the gods.

But then Sawamura would realised how close he had gotten and then he'd apologise and shift away. Times like that, Tetsurou really wished he could pull Sawamura back close. He'd almost done it a few times too but had always managed to stop himself just in time. 

He really should do something soon. They were going to graduate, and Kenma was on the verge of ditching their friendship if Tetsurou continued talking about Sawamura without any action. At the beginning of his attraction to Sawamura, Tetsurou had not really thought much about it. They were in different prefectures and he had thought nothing would come out of it. He had also been too caught up with school work and volleyball to have the spare energy to pursue a long distance relationship. 

At that time, Sawamura was just a really cute captain from a different team.

Then, someone called out to him on the first day of university when he was staring at the recruitment poster for the volleyball team. The sting of Spring High was still strong even as he mentally noted down the tryout dates. He turned and was honestly surprised to see the ex-captain of Karasuno waving at him. They had exchanged email addresses, but except for short messages wishing each other luck, they hadn't really said much of anything else. Sometimes, Tetsurou regretted not taking that extra step when they had been in high school. But somehow, Sawamura was in front of him at that very moment.

Well, Kuroo was never one to ignore the signs from the universe.

Which led him to his current situation of being good friends with Sawamura; and lately (actually, 1 year into their renewed acquaintance) a growing of definitely-more-than-friends feelings for the other boy.  
"Bokuto, I'm telling you, I don't want to make things weird."

"And I'm telling you, bro, it would be better for you if you just go for it." Bokuto's laugh rang clear through the speakerphone.

"Argh," Kuroo groaned from under his towel as he rubbed it through his hair. "But what if he doesn't feel the same way?"

"That's quite normal, ain't it?" There was a crunching sound, Bokuto must be eating his cereal.

"Are you eating properly, bro? You're not surviving on cornflakes alone again, right?"

"Nah, this's just a snack. Gotta keep my energy up."

"Your coach's a demon. Night practice?" Kuroo got off the bed, and tossed his towel onto his chair. 

"We've got a match coming up."

"You playing?"

"You bet'cha."

"Sweet." Kuroo heard the outside door open. "Hey Sawamura, welcome back!"

A knock on his door and Sawamura's head popped in as Kuroo beckoned him to come in. "I'm on the phone with Bokuto."

"Hey, Bokuto. Sup."

"Hey hey hey, Sawamura! I'm going to be in a match soon."

Kuroo's heart tripped at Sawamura's grin, "Good job! Good luck for the match!"

"I'm going to kick their asses."

"I bet you will. Hey, I gotta go," Sawamura made a sad face at Kuroo, lips turning down until it was almost a pout. "Got a project meeting today."

Kuroo's heart started racing and he gulped. "Yeah, see you for dinner later?"

"Bye, Sawamura!"

"Bye guys. I'll see you later, Kuroo."

Kuroo sighed as Sawamura left his bedroom, and he continued staring at the closed door until he heard Bokuto's snickers from his phone.

"Shut up, Bo."

"Look, things are not going to get any better for you. You should just go for it. Look, I've got an idea… I saw it in a movie recently…"

Which was how Kuroo ended up with that ridiculous idea to ask Sawamura for practice dates. He checked out the plan with Kenma; he didn't expect Kenma to have any advice, but Kenma gave him a walkthrough of a dating sim game. Kuroo knew that that was his best friend way of saying he was going to support him (even though he probably did think that it was a stupid idea… well, there wasn't anything "probably" about that. Kenma did, after all, say, "That's a stupid idea.")

After the first coffee date, Kuroo was feeling a little more confident. Although he had to admit, it didn't really feel like a date; it just felt like the both of them hanging out. The ramen place was a genius idea, if he did say so himself, but again it still didn't feel like a date. He needed to add something to their dates. Bokuto agreed when Kuroo was describing how everything went.

Which was why, on their third "date", Kuroo had insisted that they pretended that they didn't know each other and to act like it was a real date. 

That was when disaster struck.

They had gone to a nicer restaurant that night, an Italian place near the school. Sawamura had looked so good in his jeans and button down that Kuroo almost swallowed his tongue when he saw him. Then, like an idiot, he actually _stammered_ through his introduction. The thought that he needed to impress Sawamura running through his head the whole night. That this was an actual date. 

By the end of the date, Kuroo's second best shirt was red with sauce and his jeans were spotting a new pattern near his crotch area from when he accidentally smacked into the waiter who was just serving their food. He had choked while drinking his tea and had almost spewed it at Sawamura. The restaurant manager had felt so bad that he'd comp the meal so Kuroo didn't even get the chance to pay for their food. All in all, that date was a bust. 

And Sawamura's "Luckily, this wasn't a real date, right?" most certainly didn't help his spirits. Kuroo was beginning to think he had no chance at all.


	4. Movie dates: Concessions prices are even scarier than horror movies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi turns the tables on Kuroo. Also, always put the sauce on your hotdog before going into the theatre. Especially if you're the clumsy kind. 
> 
> Also, even if you aren't the clumsy kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Am I going to make it for Valentine's Day? I hope so xD
> 
> Spoiler alert: I didn't

"Kuroo, I'm thinking that since these are meant to be practice dates, you really should let me take you out sometime."

Daichi looked on in amusement as Kuroo choked on his tea. "You've been paying for all our "dates", I'm starting to feel a little bad. Besides, you need to practice being on the receiving end too right?"

Daichi's grin grew wider as Kuroo's cough harder and face grew red. "Jesus, Sawamura."

"What?" Daichi said in his most innocent voice, cocking his head and widening his eyes just a little bit at Kuroo's look of disbelief. He knew that his friend wouldn't fall for that look, but it was always fun to mess with Kuroo a little.

Kuroo made a face at Daichi and leaned back into their sofa, stretching his long legs in front of him. "Why the sudden suggestion?"

"Well," for some reason, Daichi's heart started racing as he sat next to Kuroo, keeping his eyes on his legs. "I felt bad that you've been paying for everything, I guess."

It was true, Daichi knew exactly how much Kuroo got paid for his part time job at the net cafe. And even though technically Daichi the one was doing Kuroo a favour, he still didn't feel good having Kuroo spend so much money on him.

Kuroo hummed, "Well, I'm up for anything. What do you want to do?"

"How about a movie this Saturday? You're not scheduled to work this weekend, right?"

"That works for me, it's a date then." Kuroo grinned at Daich before turning back to the report that he'd been working on at their coffee table.

"It's a date then," Daichi replied, unaware that a soft smile had grown on his face as he looked at Kuroo until a buzz from his pocket startled him. "Gotta run, I'll see you later."

"Have a good day at work. Tell me about the weird people you meet when you come back!"

"I live with the weirdest person I know, I'm not sure if anyone can top that." Daichi laughed and closed the door on Kuroo's insulted squawk.

++++++++++

"Why did you pick a horror movie when you're so bad with them?" Daichi was obviously amused.

"Because they like them."

"Well, at least you can use it as a reason to grab hold of your date." Daichi gently tugged at their joined hands.

"That's precisely the point, right?" Kuroo's grin was all smug as Daichi rolled his eyes but he released their joined hands anyway. Suddenly Daichi didn't know what he to do with his hands and just stuck them in his pockets. The dampness he felt made him grimaced and Kuroo must have seen his expression and an apologetic look crossed his face.

"But really, I'm sorry about the pants." Kuroo grimaced as he looked at the damp spot on Daichi's jeans. They had a little accident in the cinema when Kuroo tried to open the ketchup to put on his hot dog. He had used a little too much strength as he opened the package and accidentally flipped the box containing his hotdog onto Daichi's lap. Luckily for Daichi, the hotdog wasn't hot at all. Unluckily for him, there had been mustard on the hotdog. So Daichi had to sit through the whole movie smelling of mustard.

"Don't worry about it," Daichi shrugged. "Just never knew you to be the clumsy kind, that's all."

"I'm not… it's just that, you…" Kuroo trailed off at Daichi's questioning look. "Eh, nothing. I'm going to throw the rest of the popcorn away, okay?"

Daichi nodded and watched as Kuroo made this way through the crowd; his height (and hair) ensuring that Daichi was able to follow his progress even though there was a lot of people there. It was then Daichi realised that there /was\ a lot of people around, and on closer look, it seemed like most of the people around were couples. A check of his phone confirmed his suspicions.

It was Valentine's Day.

"Flowers for your girlfriend, sir?"

Daichi turned around at the cheerful voice, eyes immediately going to the bright and colour basket of flowers the girl was holding. 

"Sir?"

Daichi had his hand behind his back when Kuroo came back, and he only grinned when the taller boy raised an eyebrow at him (the one not under his fringe, and only god knows how Daichi knew that it was only one eyebrow that was raised and not both).

Kuroo's eyes narrowed, "Sawamura?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you have behind your back?"

Daichi's grin grew wider as he whipped his hand out from behind him. "Happy Valentine's Day, Kuroo."

Kuroo's flummoxed look as he stared at the rose Daichi brandished in front of him made Daichi's day. Until there was no more reaction from Kuroo and Daichi started to feel a little awkward. Maybe he took things too far? Daichi could feel the heat growing up his neck and he started to lower his arm, but Kuroo's arm shot out to grab hold of his wrist. Oddly enough, Kuroo's hand, usually cool, felt extremely warm on Daichi's arm as it slowly slipped down towards the fingers holding onto the rose. A light tug had Daichi releasing the rose and Kuroo taking it into his own hand.

Daichi's mouth inexplicably grew dry as Kuroo brought the rose to smell, all the while maintaining eye contact. A sniff. Daichi's heartbeat grew louder until it was all he heard. The stray thought about how the 2 of them looked like at that moment popped into Daichi's head but Kuroo's reaction blew it away.

"AH...AH… AH… CHOO."

Daichi watched on in amusement as Kuroo's sneezes continued until the boy was bent over almost in half.

"Oh dear…" Daichi couldn't help himself, he started chuckling. "Are you," Daichi reached out to take the rose away. "Are you allergic?"

"Not usually," Kuroo sniffed rubbing his nose.

"I'm really sorry." Daichi moved to throw the rose away but Kuroo stopped him.

"Is this payback for the mustard on your pants?" Kuroo smiled lopsidedly, and Daichi could only grin at the red nose and watery eyes. He felt bad, he really did, but it was Kuroo who didn't seem to mind that Daichi had given him.

"It really wasn't on purpose." Daichi tried to pull his hand back but Kuroo's hand remained curled around his arm. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Don't waste a good rose. It's not its fault that my nose is too delicate for it." Daichi rolled his eyes but let go of rose at Kuroo's insistent tugging.

He watched on as Kuroo sauntered away, rose in hand (But far away from his nose), towards a group of girls chatting by a tree. Soon, one of them noticed his approach and their conversation fell silent. Kuroo bent down to them, being way taller, and said something that had them all turning their attention to him. Then they started giggling and nodding as Kuroo pointed right at Daichi and waved at him. Daichi could only wave back, feeling quite awkward at the attention from the group. Kuroo handed the rose over to one of them and with a final wave walked back towards Daichi. The girls waved again and Daichi bowed slightly at them and they went back to their conversation. But Daichi could see them throwing glances at him while Kuroo took his time to walk back.

"What did you say to them?" Daichi stuck his hands back into his jeans pocket. He'd known that Kuroo was very smooth around girls, despite his general nerdiness, but it really took seeing his friend in action to see how sociable he actually was.

"Nothing much," Kuroo shrug. "Just told them that my boyfriend bought me a rose for Valentine's Day but I was allergic to it."

"What?!" Daichi sputtered, he could feel his blush growing again. "Why would you tell that that?!"

Kuroo shrugged again and looked away. "Well, it felt like the best thing to say."

Daichi stared at the back of Kuroo's head, noting that the top of Kuroo's ears were red. "Oh fine, "boyfriend". Let's get you out of the cold. You should have said something earlier."

"I'm not cold!" Daichi ignored Kuroo's protests and he grabbed hold of Kuroo's sleeves and tugged him back into the department store.

"If you're that good at talking to girls," Daichi muttered, "I don't see why you need my help."

"But Sa-amura," Kuroo whined, "I told them you were my boyfriend!"

The department store felt extremely warm. How high did they have the thermostat on anyway? Daichi released Kuroo to take off his jacket.

"Whatever. Let's go get some food." Daichi turned to Kuroo who had a ridiculous pout on that Daichi ignored. "And you're paying. Come on."

"Fine, fine, I'll pay." Kuroo came up next to Daichi, nudging his shoulder against him and Daichi felt something relax in him.

It was probably the heat.


	5. A proper plan would take distractions into consideration (even if they are in the shape of a cute boy)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsurou was done for

Tetsurou was done for… Or maybe he was cursed. As much as he didn't really believe in curses, there was no other explanation for all the clumsiness he'd exhibited the past few times he'd gone out with Sawamura.

Well, actually there was.

Sawamura was the explanation.

All Sawamura had to do was to smile and Tetsurou was gone. It had gotten worse the more "dates" that they went on. 

At their first official date, at the restaurant, Sawamura had laughed when Tetsurou had told him a joke about what happened at the lab that day, and he had been so distracted by the other man's happy expression that he hadn't notice the waiter serving his pasta coming up behind him. Tetsurou had moved his hand behind a bit too enthusiastically, knocking into the staff, and causing her to spill some sauce into his lap. The poor girl had looked so horrified that Tetsurou actually felt sorry for her. So when the manager came over, Tetsurou immediately assured him that he was not angry, and that there were no problems. 

Then they had gone on a picnic, and Tetsurou had made sandwiches and other snacks, even though Sawamura had said they could always buy them at the convenience store on the way to the picnic grounds. In retrospect, Tetsurou should have listened to Sawamura. Especially since something in the sandwiches gave Sawamura a really, really bad stomach ache. It got so bad that they actually ended up in the hospital. Tetsurou had felt so bad at the hospital, and so flustered with worry for Sawamura that he had accidentally tripped on the leg of a drip stand and fell onto Sawamura who was lying on the bed, somehow ripping the front of his gown. Tetsurou ended up having to see a doctor too, for a bruised nose that he'd banged on the railing on Sawamura's bed.

Well, at least Sawamura had laughed at Tetsurou's clumsiness instead of blaming him for the bad food. That man had even comforted him when he noticed Tetsurou's red nose even though he was all pale on the hospital bed.

When Sawamura was finally released from the hospital the next day, he even managed to not tease Tetsurou too much about the big bandage he had over his nose. Although the other boy did reject all Tetsurou's offers to cook some porridge for the "invalid" at first, he gave in in the end, when Tetsurou said that he'd make shio ramen. Tetsurou did admit that he deserved the suspicious look Sawamura gave the ramen but he was touched when all Sawamura did was shrug and dug in. It told Tetsurou how much Sawamura trusted him… and also, how hungry his friend was (if the growl from the stomach was anything to go by).

Things did not get worse after the hospital trip, but things also didn't get any better. By the time of their movie date when he had accidentally dropped his hotdog on Sawamura's lap because the sound of Sawamura's low whisper in his ear had his heart racing and the fact that a random rose triggered a allergic reaction even though he'd had never been allergic at all, Tetsurou was certain that he had been cursed. 

Maybe he wasn't meant to be with Sawamura. Or maybe this was payback for not being more straightforward with his friend. Certainly, Sawamura's jokes of "Are you sure this is how you want to be when you're on a real date?" and "Kuroo, if you keep this up, I'm not sure if you would still have a crush at the end of your dates." and "Should I buy a _omamori_ for your crush when you actually start going out with them?" did not help Tetsurou's confidence at all. Which in turn did not give Tetsurou any urge to actually confess to Sawamura. It was obvious that his roommate was not interested in Tetsurou in _that way_ and he was not willing to jeopardize their friendship at this moment. 

But it was probably… no, it was _definitely_ not fair to Sawamura if Tetsurou continued this. He was a big boy, he could do things that scared him. He… 

"Kuroo, you home? I bought extra food, if you want some!"

"Welcome back, Sawamura!" Immediately at the sound of his roommate's return, Tetsurou pushed up from his bed where he had his head sandwiched between two pillows.

The smell of food lured him to the kitchen and his stomach reminded him that it had been hours since it was last fed. He almost drooled when he saw the _yakitori_ that Sawamura had brought home and was laying out on the table. He pulled out the big bottle of oolong that they had from the fridge and grabbed their mugs before sitting at the table.

"Why're you back so early?" Tetsurou muttered around the stick in his mouth. "Thought you were going to stay in Miyagi for a bit longer and catch a later train?"

Sawamura had taken advantage of the long weekend, and a slightly lighter than usual coursework, to make a trip back to Miyagi to visit with family and friends. He had asked Tetsurou along but he had declined the offer. As much as Tetsurou had wanted to meet up with Tsukki and chibi-chan, he wasn't sure how he would handle being in Sawamura's childhood room. So he'd begged off, saying that Kenma was missing him sorely and that he'd promised to meet up with Bokuto. Tetsurou was a little sad that Sawamura had accepted his decision without a fight, but Sawamura actually looked a little disappointed, so that perked him up. 

"Oh yeah, I decided that it made no difference if I came home a few hours earlier… and since I was coming home earlier, I thought I might as well come back in time for dinner."

"Oya? Did you miss me?" Sometimes Tetsurou hated his mouth.

"Yeah, I did actually." Tetsurou heart started pounding at Sawamura's smile. "Just like how I missed having to the stink of fish in our house."

"Hey!!!" In retaliation, Tetsurou snatched the last stick of meat and finished it with a big flourish. "Fish is good, okay?"

"Yes, yes. It's delicious."

"Anyways, thanks for dinner." Tetsurou cleared his plates just as Sawamura was clearing the food packaging. "But maybe you should have called first. I mean, what if I was on a date?"

Tetsurou didn't notice when the abrupt stop of the rustling of the plastic bag over the flowing water in the sink, but he heard Sawamura's question loud and clear.

"Were you on a date? Did you manage to finally ask your crush out?"

Oh, yeah. He was supposed to be crushing on someone else, and Sawamura was never going to get jealous.

"Nah, I'm not sure that I'm ready to ask them out properly yet." Tetsurou tried to change the subject before it got uncomfortable, he really didn't want to take about his non-existent crush that was not Sawamura to Sawamura. "How are your friends?"

"Oh they're great! Tsukishima asked about you."

"My son!"

"Yeah," Sawamura laughed, "He asked whether I've killed you already."

"That brat," Tetsurou mocked growled. "I'll show him the next time when we meet up."

"You really should come back with me the next time." Sawamura said as they both sat at the small kitchen table finishing up their tea, long limbs tangled under it. Tetsurou remembered how awkward they had been when they had first moved into the flat. The dining area was only big enough to accommodate a small table and it took them awhile to figure out where to stick their long legs, especially for Tetsurou. Now, it was as natural as breathing for Tetsurou to stretch his legs out until they were under Sawamura's chair with Sawamura's legs on either side. Sometimes, Sawamura would cross a leg over a knee but lately, he had taken to bending a leg slightly and resting a foot ankle-side on one of Tetsurou's legs.

"Maybe." Tetsurou muttered, relishing having Sawamura in their little flat with him today.

"So, Suga was going on about how it seemed like my favourite colour had changed or something."

"Huh?"

"Well, it seemed like the things that I have in red have increased?" Sawamura lifted his phone, showing Tetsurou its red cover.

"It's only a phone cover…" Tetsurou started to say until Sawamura pulled out his keys, all held together with a keychain that had a red fire hydrant that Tetsurou had given to him for reasons forgotten. Then Sawamura held out his wrist, and he had a red sweatband. "I didn't even know you had a red sweatband."

"I didn't think anything of it actually." Sawamura looked at the sweatband as though it contained answers to questions he had been asking for a while. "Then, Suga also pointed out that the shoes I had on were also red…"

Tetsurou cackled at Sawamura's disgruntled expression and then something his coursemates said the other day came back to him.

"Actually, my coursemate said similar things to me the other day! They were asking whether I really liked Halloween or something."

"Oh, really?"

"I don't know. Something to do with all the orange stuff that I have now." Tetsurou waved his own phone at Sawamura, showing off the orange cover that he had bought because there was a black cat on it and the store didn't have any red covers.

"Ho? Also, where did you get this band?" Sawamura hooked a finger onto the thin wristband that Tetsurou was wearing.

Tetsurou shrugged, red infusing his cheeks when Sawamura pulled on his braided orange and red wristband and rubbed it between his thumb and index finger.

"I got it at a roadside store… it's nothing big. ANYWAYS, I gotta get back to work. Welcome back and thanks for the mea… OW!" Tetsurou yelped in pain as he hit his leg against the edge of the table, something that had happened quite regularly when they had first moved in but he hadn't done in months.

"You okay?" Sawamura started to stand but Tetsurou waved him back into his seat.

"Don't worry," Tetsurou rubbed at the aching area. "It's not a big deal. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

At Sawamura's nod, Tetsurou hobbled back into his room. It was probably safer in there, he'd be away from distractions.

Probably.


	6. Gifted Dates: You'll never know what people are good at

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poor Kuroo, he catches no break.

Collapsing side by side on their sofa, both Kuroo and Daichi groaned as their bodies throbbed and ached in various places from their volleyball practice. Their school's volleyball team wasn't a top team, but that didn't mean that their coach slacked off on training. They might even have a chance to go quite far in the inter-college games this year, and that had their coach upping the intensity of their training. 

Daichi rubbed at an exceptionally sore spot on his thigh and groaned as he stretched his legs. He swore his knees actually _creaked_.

"I'm getting too old for this." Daichi joked.

"Urgh, I know what you mean." Kuroo began rubbing his fingers, they were still red from practice and Daichi noticed that the nail on the right index finger was chipped.

"You should file your nails." Daichi leaned back against the sofa. He should either get dinner started or clear out his workout clothes from his bag, but he was really too tired to do anything. Luckily they had showered after practice. His stomach was going to protest soon. That meat bun they had shared on the way home was not going last long.

Kuroo smirked and waved his hand in front of Daichi. "You gonna file them for me?"

Daichi sighed and grabbed onto Kuroo's wrist. He didn't notice Kuroo's mouth dropping opened as he searched for his nail file in his bag. "You are such a baby. Can't you take care of yourself?"

"I can take care of myself just fine." Kuroo muttered as Daichi carefully filed the nails on his right hand. It really wasn't that bad, most of them were actually quite short, but he'd felt the pain of a nail accidentally ripped out before, and he really didn't want that to happen to Kuroo. He made quick work of Kuroo's right hand, and held out his hand for the left one. Kuroo obediently gave it to Daichi. When he was done with the left hand, Daichi held it out to admire his handiwork.

"Not bad, if I do say so myself."

"You know, Sawamura, you're pretty handy to have around."

Daichi groaned and turned to glare up at Kuroo who had stretched out his arms in front of him and was admiring his nails. "God, Kuroo, you're so cheesy."

"Gotta hand it to me, I'm good with compliments, right?" Kuroo's wink was obnoxious to say the least.

"Enough," Daichi flopped back on the sofa, arm brushing against Kuroo and he groaned as he stretched again. "Oh god, my muscles are going to be so sore tomorrow."

"That reminds me. I have something to hand to you!" Daichi decided to ignore Kuroo for the bad puns while the other boy rummaged through his bag.

"Here, I got this to give as a gift. Tell me what do you think of this present."

"You're going to give your crush muscle rub?" Daichi was totally amused at he lifted up the bottle closer. It was even his favourite brand!

"Well, they're quite a practical kind of person. And I know they use this."

"So, they're in one of our sports team?"

"Maybe. Heh."

"You are such a dork." Daichi couldn't help the fond smile that spread across his face. "Well, _I_ appreciate this gift, if that counts for anything."

"This is also only part one of the gift!" Kuroo was grinning as he grabbed the bottle from Daichi. "It's probably better if we do this on the floor."

Daichi shook his head at winning smile Kuroo directed at him, an expression that would have been more charming if the other boy hadn't been wiggling his brows at the same time. He knew that Kuroo was hoping for some reaction from him for that teasing comment. Well, he wasn't going to give Kuroo the upper hand so easily.

"Sure. It'd be easier to take my shirt off too, right?" Daichi moved off the sofa and crossing his arms in front of him, proceed to lift his shirt off. He had his shirt half off, covering his face and his huge grin when Kuroo tapped him on his arm.

"Wait, wait." Kuroo's voice sounded strangled. "What are you doing?"

After schooling his expression, Daichi pulled off his shirt completely, he asked as innocently as he could. "Weren't you going to give me a back message?"

Kuroo coughed and stood up, "Yeah, I am. Didn't realise you were going to be so enthusiastic."

"It's a massage, of course I'm going say yes!"

"Fine, fine. Let me go get a towel."

It might have been Daichi's imagination but it felt like Kuroo was escaping from him as he scrambled off the sofa into their room. But then his growling stomach reminded him that they had yet to cook dinner.

"Kuroo! Let's skip the massage. I'm hungry!"

"What?" Came Kuroo's reply from his room. "You're going to give my magic fingers a miss?!"

"Dinner first." Daichi forced himself off the couch and put his shirt back on. "I need sustenance."

"Sustenance," Kuroo snorted. "And you call me a nerd."

Daichi decided to be the bigger man and ignore Kuroo's hideous snorts. 

He did, however, show Kuroo the finger as he walked past his bedroom into the kitchen to start on dinner. 

++++++++++

"You know what, Sawamura, I think you've really improved." Daichi couldn't help the warm feeling as Kuroo leaned back against the kitchen chair and gave a small burp.

"Why, thank you, Kuroo-san. I'm so glad you've enjoyed my efforts." Daichi kept his voice sweet even as he threw the dish towel at his roommate's face.

Kuroo was laughing as he started on washing the dishes. "No, seriously, Sawamura, your curry tastes so much better now."

"That's only because I'm not following Suga's recipe."

Kuroo bark of laughter sounded loud in their small kitchen, but Daichi was already used to his friend's braying laughter. He sipped on his tea, enjoying the warmth in their little kitchen, contentment filling him as he listened to the clinks of their plates and cutlery getting washed. Daichi had always known that he was a homebody, and he was also quite selective as to the people he spent his time with; it still surprised him sometimes how comfortable he was with Kuroo. True, they were both still quite competitive, and that streak of theirs had gotten them into some trouble and may have caused a bit of friction sometimes, but they were always able to make up. He let his eyes travel aimlessly around their small place, it was a bit of a tight fit with two relatively big guys but somehow he and Kuroo managed it, until they landed on the bottle of muscle rub he'd left on the table.

"I didn't know that you've progressed to giving each other presents." Daichi's voice was soft but Kuroo still heard him.

"Huh?" Kuroo placed the last of the plates on the drying rack and turned back towards Daichi who nudged his head in the direction of the living room.

"The muscle rub. It's for your crush, right?"

"Ah!" Kuroo chuckled, " _That_ bottle's for you though."

"For me?" Daichi squinted at Kuroo, trying to see if the other boy was hiding anything. "Isn't it for your crush?"

"Well, yeah, it is." Kuroo waved a hand nonchalantly at him. "But didn't you say you've run out of it the other day?"

"I did…"

That was another thing about Kuroo. He really _was_ very sweet and considerate, it was something that Daichi had discovered after getting closer to him.

"So yeah, just take it." Kuroo tossed the bottle to Daichi who caught it, and idea forming in his mind. 

"Sooooo…" Daichi got up from the kitchen chair, "Does this come with a massage then?"

Daichi was only able to keep his innocent expression for all 10 seconds before his laughter burst out. He was laughing so hard he was unable to block the pillow Kuroo threw at him.

"Oh my god, if only you could see yourself." Daichi finally managed to calm down enough as he sat next to Kuroo, leaning against his friend. "My stomach hurts."

"Serves you right," Kuroo sniffed, all aggrieved cat. "I don't know why I put up with you, Sawamura."

"Aww, don't be mad." Daichi leaned even more on to Kuroo. "I'm sure your crush will appreciate your massage skills."

"Well, how would you know? You've never tried my service befo…" Kuroo's look at Daichi had him narrowing his eyes.

"What?"

"You should let me practice on you."

"What?" Daichi shifted away from Kuroo, he was started to feel a little nervous at Kuroo's grin. "It's okay, I don't need a massage."

"Cooome ooon, Sa~mura. You don't want your good friend to embarrass himself in front of his crush, do you?"

"Your whole existence is already embarrassing."

"Oy, don't be rude."

"Sorry." Daichi grinned at Kuroo's rude gesture.

"Then let me massage yoooou. Come on, Sawamura. It's not like you're ticklish or something like that, right?"

"Oh fine. I'm only doing this for you."

"Yeah, yeah. It's got nothing to do with the fact that our volleyball coach has run us ragged for the past week, right?"

"Nope, nothing to do with that at all."

++++++++++

Daichi tried to hold back his groan of pleasure, he really did, but Kuroo's fingers were, like he mentioned, magical; especially when they were working on a tight spot on the back of his right thigh. This was the reason why he didn't really want Kuroo to massage him. He always made the most embarrassing sounds when he was massaged. It got so bad that Daichi had to buy a foam roller so he could work on his aches at home in private. That or he'd get Suga to come over, but his parents had walked in on them before, and while he knew it was all innocent, Daichi was still embarrassed by that incident. His father most certainly did not help with his grins and winks.

"Enjoying yourself, Sawamura?"

"Shut u… ooooh, god. Yeeessssss." Daichi's groan was embarrassingly loud as Kuroo worked on a stubborn knot on his lower back.

Daichi felt, more than he saw, Kuroo standing up. “Okay, Sawamura, we’re done here.”

“But Kuroooo…” Daichi flapped a hand up, feeling too good to actually move from his space on the floor. “Help meeee up…”

“Get up yourself, Sawamura.” Kuroo’s foot nudged him as Daichi’s hand grabbed onto his leg. “Where’s that pride of yours?”

Daichi turned around, groaning at the effort needed to flop onto his back, “You’ve massaged it till it’s all soft. Help me up.”

Hoping to see Kuroo’s expression, Daichi opened his eyes slightly and waved his arms around. The fond expression that Kuroo had took his breath away, and Daichi wondered if Kuroo’s crush ever acted so childishly in front of him before. 

At that thought, Daichi’s brows furrowed and he dropped his arms. Ignoring Kuroo’s confused expression, he sat up and pushed off from the floor, standing up in front of his friend.

“Hey, you okay, Sawamura?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Daichi didn’t want to examine too deeply why it bothered him to think that Kuroo was thinking of his crush. “How did you even get so good at giving massages?”

“Eh?” Kuroo scratched at the back of his neck, “I used to give Kenma massages because he would complain so much about practice. I thought it was also good knowledge to have because, you know, we do push our bodies quite harshly and it would be nice to know how the muscles worked and… Oy, don’t be rude.”

Daichi allowed the nudge from Kuroo, he did deserve it for laughing at his friend. He wasn’t laughing at the effort Kuroo had put into learning something new, but it just was so… endearing to hear Kuroo being… well, just like Kuroo.

“You are such a nerd,” Daichi grinned as he moved towards his bedroom.

“Yeah? But you love me anyway!”

“Sure, I do!” Daichi turned back at the doorway to his bedroom, “Thanks for the massage.”

He closed his door on Kuroo’s soft, “You’re welcome.”

Despite how relaxed he felt from the massage he received, it took Daichi a while before he fell asleep.

[Omake]

"You're giving them tickets to the amusement park?"

"Chocolates? Oh... these are the good ones. Thanks, Kuroo. It's about time I got something good out of this deal.'

"Hey! I pay for your ramen!"

"And I paid for our movie tickets. So yeah..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally! Some sort of reaction from Daichi! I think I'll try to wrap things up in a chapter or 2


	7. Best laid plans (No matter how much you plan, they would still go awry)

Tetsurou was _miserable_.

Nothing was going to according to his (or rather Bokuto’s) plan. There had been times where Tetsurou thought he was actually being very obvious, but who’d expect the cunning crow captain would be so _oblivious_ when it came to such matters? Tetsurou had tried almost everything.

Romantic dinner date (got pasta sauce spilt on him).

Brought Sawamura on a picnic (both of them ended up in the hospital).

Took them to the amusement park (where Sawamura got puked on, not by Tetsurou, thank the gods, but by a random girl, just before they were supposed to go on the ferris wheel. Tetsurou was extremely annoyed by that. He’d planned to actually confess to Sawamura on the ferris wheel… but with the puke and everything, they’d given up going onto that ride. Luckily they were almost done for the day and were planning on going back after the ferris wheel anyway).

If things continued on this way, Tetsurou was worried that Sawamura was going to think that they were cursed even before any thing had started between the 2 of them.

Not that Sawamura was worried. Whenever something happened, his friend was always joking about how lucky Tetsurou was to be able to use Sawamura as some sort of test drive and bad luck beacon. That way, nothing bad would happen during his actual date with his crush.

Tetsurou was beginning to think that it had be a very, _very_ bad idea to listen to Bokuto.

To make matters worse, Sawamura had been asking a lot more about Tetsurou’s crush. Tetsurou had hoped that the anvil sized hints that he’d been dropping would be enough for Sawamura to say something like, “Dude, are you sure I’m not your crush?”  
In Tetsurou’s head, that would have been the perfect timing for him to come clean to Sawamura, to tell him that, yes, Sawamura _is_ his crush, that he, Kuroo Tetsurou has _feelings_ for the other boy, and that he wants the other boy to be his boyfriend, _please _.__

__Easier said than done. Tetsurou had even given Sawamura a _physical description_ and the other boy still did not give him any clue that he knew who Tetsurou was talking about. For someone who was generally very observant and intelligent, Sawamura was worryingly slow on the uptake on such things. Maybe that was why he hadn’t had a steady partner, and why none of the dates he’d been on called back. _ _

__Not that Tetsurou was complaining about that._ _

__Well, he was. Since it was affecting him personally _now_._ _

__Tetsurou groaned into his pillow. He was on the verge of just shaking Sawamura and yelling into that stupid handsome face of his._ _

__“Kuroo? You home?”_ _

__At the sound of his roommate’s voice, Tetsurou lifted his head from his pillows. He really wished that he wasn’t so easy, but the sound of Sawamura's voice was enough to lift him out from the funk he was wallowing in. A glance at his clock told him that his roommate was unusually early home from school._ _

__"Hey," Tetsurou slipped out of his room, scratching at an itch on his stomach under his shirt. "You're home early."_ _

__"Class let out early." Sawamura placed a few plastic bags on their dining table. "So I went grocery shopping because my pay came in, and I thought we could celebrate..."_ _

__"Yay for pay day!" Tetsurou crowed as he slipped into the small kitchen space._ _

__Kuroo rustled around the plastic bags, handing things as he took them out, "What are we having today?"_ _

__"Well, you'll know when you take a look inside that plastic bag." Sawamura's voice held a smile as he started placing the groceries into their depressingly empty cupboards. It was near the end of the month and the two of them really had been too busy to go shopping for food lately. They did try to be good and would endeavour to cook at home whenever they could, but school work and volleyball practice really ate up a lot of their time. More often than not, they would eat at the school cafeteria or just something simple like instant ramen. But Sawamura, surprisingly, was a good cook and Tetsurou always looked forward to the times when his flatmate made the effort to feed the both of them something good._ _

__Kuroo opened the bag that Sawamura had gestured at; his gasp was probably loud enough to disturb their neighbours. (Yes, their walls were _that_ thin.)_ _

__"You didn't…"  
Tetsurou glanced up from the mackerel in the bag and felt himself falling deeper into this _feelings_ at the warm smile Sawamura had on his face._ _

__"Yeah, it's your favourite food right? I thought we could celebrate your birthday early this year." Sawamura turned back to close the kitchen cabinets._ _

__"Eh? Why are we celebrating it early?" Tetsurou took out the fish from the plastic bag, leaving it by the sink as he watched Sawamura push up his sleeves. God, even that man's elbows were sexy._ _

__"Won't you have plans on that day?"_ _

__Tetsurou leaned against the small kitchen counter, and frowned as he racked his brain for any plans he might have mentioned to Sawamura. His birthday fell on a weekday that year, and while there were plans to celebrate it on the weekend, Sawamura was included in those plans, so he couldn't be talking about that._ _

__"I don't think so?" Tetsurou rubbed at his chin as he looked up at the ceiling. He really couldn't think of any plans that he had on that day. He had actually been hoping to persuade Sawamura to celebrate with him on that day._ _

__"Oh…" Sawamura glanced at him before going back to the fish that he was prepping on the chopping board. "I just thought that you might be going on a date with your crush."_ _

__Oh._ _

__"No! No!" Tetsurou hurried to dissuade Sawamura of that particular notion, and in his rush, he hit his hip on the counter. "OW."_ _

__"Hey," Sawamura hurriedly placed the knife down and washed his hands. "You okay?"_ _

__It was all Tetsurou could do to not yelp as Sawamura's warm hand rested on his hip. He'd hit bone, and it actually hurt quite a bit; but Tetsurou was going to face another problem soon if Sawamura continued to rub at the sore spot. He wasn't even sure if the other boy realised what he was doing. Reluctantly, Tetsurou placed a hand on Sawamura's wrist; as much as he wanted his friend to continue soothing the sore spot, sweatpants were _not_ conducive to hiding certain reactions._ _

__"Thanks," Tetsurou managed to croak out, "I'm fine."_ _

__Tetsurou thought that Sawamura looked a bit reluctant to remove his hand but that expression passed in a blink of an eye, so he was probably imagining things._ _

__"So…" Sawamura picked up the knife once again. "You're not going out with your crush on your birthday?"_ _

__"Ah… no? Why would you think that?" Tetsurou rubbed at the back of his neck, feeling a little uncomfortable with the topic of his non-existent crush._ _

__Sawamura sighed, and turned to look at Tetsurou with… what he could only call an adorably confused look, "Because it's your special day and you should be sharing it with your special one?"_ _

__If anyone were to ask him, his mouth had opened without his permission and what came out of it at that moment was _not_ planned at all. "I meant to ask if you wanted to celebrate with me actually."_ _

__"Oh…" Sawamura's attention flashed back to the fish on the chopping board. "Sorry for spoiling your plans then."_ _

__Because Sawamura's back was towards him, Tetsurou felt it was safe for him to look up to the ceiling,hands raised, palms up, mouthing, "Why? WHY? WHHHHY?"_ _

__"Kuroo, could you help with the rice?"_ _

__Distracted from his silent appeals to the ceiling, Kuroo sighed softly. Maybe if he was ever successful in his efforts to woo Sawamura, he would be able to laugh about it in the future. But at this moment, frustration was familiar friend. Yet, he could feel his angst about his current situation melting away as he looked at Sawamura's back. His friend was humming as he cleaned the fish, broad shoulders stretching his shirt, tempting Kuroo to lean against the strong looking back. He took another deep breath and pushed away the longing._ _

__"Sure. How much rice are you… I mean, we eating tonight?"_ _

__If Sawamura noticed Kuroo standing closer than usual, even after receiving the Death Glare™, he didn't mention anything._ _


	8. Perfect Dates: Home is where the heart is

Also, Daichi must have some sort masochistic tendencies. He actually enjoyed the dates that he had gone on with Kuroo.

Daichi once told Kuroo what his perfect date was

Daichi regretted his decision. He really did.

Daichi was feeling annoyed. It was supposed to be a test run for home dates, and he was not happy about it. Kuroo was actually cooking, and soon Daichi would have to go out of the house, then ring the doorbell as though he had just arrive and that this was an actual date between the both of them.

Because he was an idiot.

It was about time Daichi admitted that he couldn't stand the thought of Kuroo going out with another person. The past few months had started out fun, then as the thought that Kuroo was only using him as a practice buddy sunk it, it had turned torturous. And Daichi was not a masochist. At least not with his heart.

He should end it tonight.

"This person must be very special for you to put in so much effort."

"Yeah, they are."

When he had first agreed to help, Daichi had thought that it would only last for one or two "dates" until Kuroo found his courage to ask his crush out. But somehow, 2 dates turned into 4 turned into 6... Daichi didn't know when things changed, but sometime around the unfortunate hospital date, he'd forgotten that the dates were meant to help Kuroo and he started to enjoy them as though /he/ was the one who Kuroo had wanted to date in the first place. Kuroo's attitude most certainly didn't help. His friend had always been kind and considerate, but after Daichi agreed to go on the practice dates, he was treated to how /kind\ Kuroo could be. Really, anyone would be lucky to be his boyfriend. 

Not that Daichi wanted anyone to be Kuroo's boyfriend.

/He\ wanted to be Kuroo's boyfriend.

But their friendship came first, especially since Kuroo already had someone he was interested in. Maybe Daichi /was\ a masochist. He couldn't help asking Kuroo about his crush, trying to see if he could recognise the person. All he gleaned from the hints that Kuroo dropped was that his crush was definitely on one of the sports teams in their college and was, according to Kuroo, "extremely handsome, kind, supportive, and takes no bullshit from anyone."

In the beginning, Daichi was actually actively encouraging Kuroo to confess to his crush, if only to put his friend out of his misery. But as time went by, Daichi grew more selfish, and started to desire Kuroo's company all to himself. Everytime Kuroo did something nice, Daichi had to remind his racing heart that it wasn't for /him\, that it was for the faceless, nameless, idiot of a crush his own idiot crush had on.

Daichi groaned. He really wished he hadn't agreed to go on the fake dates with Kuroo. He had known that Kuroo was a great catch, and that it wouldn't take too much for Daichi's heart to fall. He knew that Kuroo would never see him as anything as a good friend. But he had thought that he would be able to handle his emotions, and that he would be able to stop himself before things got too bad.

Suga was probably shaking his head somewhere.

"Hey, Sawamura, you okay?"

Kuroo's voice right next to his ear shook Daichi out of his reverie. Holding a hand to it, Daichi managed to scrounge up a glare as he turned to Kuroo. "Stop that."

"Heh, yen for your thoughts?" Kuroo wiped his hands on the ridiculous pink apron he insisted on buying when they had first moved in, and sat on his chair opposite Daichi.

"You can't afford my thoughts, cat boy." This, this he could handle. The bantering between him and Kuroo that came easily and smoothly, even at the beginning.

"And here I thought I was overpaying." Kuroo's smirk was deliberately infuriating, and he laughed as Daichi threw a dishcloth at him.

"Are you almost done? I'm starving." Daichi heart ached while his stomach growled. This was going to be the last time; after this, Daichi was going to tell Kuroo that he could no longer help Kuroo and that he really should go confess.

And then, Daichi was going to go back to Miyagi for the winter break. He had been planning on staying and celebrating his birthday in Tokyo; in fact, it was Kuroo who had persuaded Daichi to stay over New Year's, saying that it was his birthday wish and Daichi was not such a monster to not grant a birthday wish, right?

Daichi cared for his friend too much to wish for his rejection, but he needed to protect himself too.

"Yep, I'm done. Shall we do this?"

Daichi took a deep breath as he stood, "You know this is kinda ridiculous, right?"

"You were still willing to help anyway." Kuroo's smile had Daichi's heart racing, and he hurriedly moved towards their front door before he did something stupid like leaning down to kiss his friend.

Outside the door, Daichi took another deep breath, trying to calm the nerves that he had no business feeling. This was the last time. He should enjoy it as much as possible.

Daichi raised his hand and pressed the doorbell, and he couldn't help the smile that grew on his face as he heard the slightly rushed footsteps. He was supposed to wait for a bit before pressing the bell, but Daichi had wanted to tease Kuroo a little. The smile turned into an opened mouth when the door opened and Kuroo appeared. Somehow, in the short time from Daichi going towards their front door and pressing the button, Kuroo had managed to change out of his tee and sweatpants and had put on a pressed white shirt and black slacks. Daichi felt /extremely\ underdressed in his jeans and sweater.

"Was I supposed to dress up?" Daichi murmured as he slipped out of his slippers.

Kuroo held out a hand to Daichi, who blinked and willing himself to not blush, slipped his own into it. "No, I just thought that it would be nice to dress nice since it's the first time you're over and I'm cooking dinner."

Daichi wondered if the heat he felt in their joined hands was coming from him or Kuroo, but not even his embarrassment at the hand holding could stop that snort from coming out. He paid for it with a tug and glare from Kuroo but he kept his mouth shut and his expression innocent. Daichi could feel his heart growing softer as Kuroo brought him on a tour of their little flat; at the funny stories that Kuroo was telling him even though Daichi was there at the time, it sounded different when Kuroo was telling it to him.

He waved Kuroo away when the other boy tried to pull his chair out for him, marvelling at the spread that was on the table. Kuroo had forbidden Daichi to help with the food prep, and so he had no idea what Kuroo was making for him. Their little dining table was packed with plates of onigiri, pasta, tonkatsu, and there were even small pizza bites.

"Wow…" Daichi didn't know where to start but before he could reach for an onigiri, his hand was covered by Kuroo's.

"What…?" Daichi lifted his face to look at Kuroo, a little surprised at the very serious look Kuroo was sporting.

"I…" Kuroo cleared his throat, "I need to tell you something, Sawamura."

A feeling of dread grew in Daichi, but he kept still, unable to move. Kuroo was not doing what he thought he was going to do right?

"So, well, we've known each other for a while, right?" Kuroo's eyes slipped away to look at point somewhere behind Daichi. "And we've gone out on quite a few dates… and I just want to say that I really li… Sawamura?"

The crash of the chair behind Daichi sounded extremely loud in their tiny kitchen. He had wanted to help Kuroo, he really did. But listening to him /confess\ to someone else was more than what he could handle at the moment. Daichi backed away from the table, holding a hand out when Kuroo made to stand.

"Sorry," Daichi gulped, willing his voice to not waver and he tried to sound light and cheerful, despite the weight crushing his heart. "You just caught me by surprise. Didn't realise that you were going to practice /that\ on me too."

"Sawamura… listen, I've got to confess something to you."

Daichi barked out a laugh, and, no, he couldn't do it anymore. "I shouldn't be the one you confess to. You really should just grow some balls, Kuroo, and go talk to your crush."

"I /am\ talking to my crush, you dumbass."

"Are you Kageyama?" Daichi was amazed that he could still joke at this time, and then Kuroo's words sank in. "Huh?"

"Seriously, Sawamura," Kuroo righted Daichi's chair and gently pushed him back onto it. "I used to think that you were intelligent."

Emotions still reeling from Kuroo's words, all Daichi could managed was a whispered, "What do you mean?"

Kuroo sighed, and gently grasped Daichi's hand again. "I… Let me start from the beginning, okay?"

Daichi listened in fascination as Kuroo explained how all Bokuto had some up with this plan for Kuroo to ask him out on dates without actually asking him out on dates. And that this was all one elaborate plan for Kuroo to get Daichi to fall in love with him, which, Kuroo admitted, was rather shitty of him. But that was why Kuroo decided to come clean. He felt that it was not fair for him to treat Daichi in that manner and he would totally understand if Daichi wanted to punch him, but he hoped they could still be friends and…

"Sawamura?" Kuroo stopped rambling at Daichi's squeeze of his hand.

It was time that Daichi pulled out some courage too.

"I need your help with something, Kuroo."

Omake:

"Sawamura-kun! No time no see! How are you?"

"Miyuki-san! It's been a while. Hope you've been good."

"It's been awesome… and this is?"

"This is Kuroo, my boyfriend. Kuroo, this is Miyuki."

"Miyuki-san, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh! You finally got together with him! I thought you would! You wouldn't stop talking about him that time…"

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, you kept talking about your really cool roommate… it was this guy, right?"

"Oh? Oh ho ho ho?"

"Tall? Stupid hair?" Miyuki was laughing at Daichi's red face, but at her description, Daichi burst out laughing too as Kuroo sputtered.

"I guess I was talking about him. Sorry, about that."

"I'm just happy to see you happy. Nice meeting you Kuroo-san."

"Nice to meet you too, Miyuki-san."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *slumps* I. Am. Done. Yas! Thanks for sticking with me till the end!


End file.
